Airship of the semirigid type



U. NOBILE AIRSHIP oF THE SEMIRIGID TYPE tor:

oct". 2s, 1924. 1 1.513.001

U. NOBILE AIRSHIP 0F THE SEMIIGID TYPE Filed Sept. 2, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 28, 1924. 1,513,001

u. NOBILE AIRsHIP oF THE SEMIRGID TYPE Filea sem. 2 1 19.22 4 sheetssheet ign Oct. 28, 1924.

U. NOBILE IRSHIP OF THE SEMIRIGID TYPE Filed Sept. 2, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented oci. 2s, 1924.

isiai UMBERTO NOBILE, OF ROME, ,ICLAIiVYr` AIRSHII" OFy THE `SEMIltIGrID TYPE;

Application filed September 2, 1922. Serial No. $5,925.

the construction of semirigid airships pro vided either with a flat girder or with a tubular girder having a triangular or polygonal section. n

In these types of airships the vertical and horizontal rudders hitherto have been usually Varranged in such a way as toy form a -kind of ,biplane or a triplane cell directly connected to the framework or girder of the airship, which framework or girder in therv ,Case of airships with iat girder is to that end stiffened to afsuitable extent towards the stern.

Said biplaner or triplane cell presents two drawbacks:

l. It is not t to satisfactorily withstand the torsional stress due to dissymmetrical v loads on the planes;

2. From the aerodynamic point of view it opposes a greater resistance to iiight, owing to the lateral position with respect to thek envelope.

`To obviate both of these drawbacks, ac-l cording to this invention the said box is substituted by a cruciform system of wings,

. formed byV stationary planesacting yas keels, and by movable planes in` alignment `with the firstmentioned ones and actingfas rudders. This arrangement also has the advantage of relatively reducing'thesizeof the movable planes. Y

f Said cruciform ysystem of wings isl con-y nected with the girder by means of an an-k nular cage which is so shaped as to exactly follow the external outline of the hull of',

the airship, upon which it is arranged,

whereby the shape of the cage` and of ther planes as well as the conformation of the envelope may be caused to vary particularly U shown by way of example in the according to the size ofthe airship, and to c vrectly connectedwith the girder 6 so as to other conditions resulting in practice from the peculiar method of construction adopted, such as for twodifferent cases it `is annexed drawings, in whichf Figs. land 2 are a side elevation land an y end view, respectively,4 ofk an ,airship with f the cruciform system ofwings carried by an f annular cage according toy-,theV invention;V

Figs. tand 4; ,areV a vertical Adiametral sec.

tionk and a plan' view, respectively, of the stern end of a second embodiment [of the system of wings according to the invention; Figs. 5 and 6 are two cross sections along the lines and YfYfrespectively, of Fig;k 'c Y' ig. 7 vshows a detail ofcoiistruction,

- Fig. 8 isan outer side elevation of a form of construction ,with afcontinuous'kgas bag within the annularcagQ-S Fig. 9 isa cross sectionalongl the` liile Z-Z' of FigzfS;

Fig.y 10j is a ydetail yof construction yrelating .tof the A,embodinieifit shown `in Figs. 8 and 9. i

As itis seen in Figs-` land 2 ofthe drawing, which refery to a'firsty embodiment, the

`envelopeV ,lf, to whichthe car -2- is connected iny the rusual wayby ymeans of rooe .sus ensionsy 3 startinoffromy the girder which rests upon or is fastened to the c lower portion of said envelope, is

ystiiiened towards thestern end y.by `means of a system of "rings -5-,+5-.5" arranged according to the parallelsof theenvelope.

Theselingswhich, for insta-nce, may be formed by steel tubes, are connected with the rigid "portion y.6 ofthe girder, whichy in the drawing hasa triangular section, but which may also haveapolygonal or eyena curvilinear section. Theconnection ofthe yannular longitudinal ,elements .In this lway on the [hull of theairship formed a network having large'meshes. If `it isdeemed convenient', "the stiffness of f the whole-'system may be increased by providing diagonal yelements in each one of the meshes.

It is to be remarked ythat 'thekeel 7 is dirender it integral with. thelatter, thus increasing'the stiffness thereof. y

The lfour 'keels 7-7'7""`-`-7"" arek connected to the envelope I- means of a tying-up ysystem shoWninFig., 7, for the purpose of avoiding that the tubes or section irons or even the beams, of which the said rings or longitudinal elements are formed, project upon the surface of the envelope, thus diminishing the speed during 'the flight.

As it is seen insaid Fig. 7, on the fabric l of the envelope are fastened the two fabric strips 10-10, which on the edges are provided with eyelets. Upon approaching between each other the edges of the strips l0 by means of the tying-up system il, the

tube is so to speak immerged into'the en` velope, whereby on the outside a joined continuous surface, without any projections, is obtained.

Fig. 1 of the drawings shows also that in the form of construction represented therein the rigid portion 6 of the girder is Yarranged inside the envelope so as to cause the plain wall of said rigid portion to form a continuation without interruption of' the flat portion of the laminar girder. This ar- Vrangement ofthe rigid girder may be likewhether 'this framework be a completely rigidV one, or formed of a iat girder) is that shown in Figs, 3, 4:, 5 and 6 and Vwhich suits better for airships having large dimensions.

Said embodiment differs Vfrom that shown in Figs. l .and 2-inthat the annular cage, insteadV of being limited to. the section of the girder carrying the keels, extends as far as to reach the extremity of the stern, for which purpose the longitudinal elements 8 are' caused to extend up tosaid pointand other rings 13-l3 are added.

`In this way at the stern is formed a complete lcage which corresponds to that provided at the bow.

The section X-X, in which towards the stern portion endsY the section, to which is fastened the system of wings, is stifi'ened by means of a spider 14.-15, Fig, 5. Also the keels, instead of being flat, are of a rigid Y structure, as it is seen in Fig. 6, which permits to obtain the advantage of strengthen- Y ,Y ing the whole system, which thus requires a lesser number ofconnecting ropes.

Moreover, toobviate the mconvenienceof the greater thickness of the keels,y theyV are shaped in the way shown in Fig. 4, so as to form no obstacle during the flight.

The insertion of the spider iny sectionVA AX--X makes it necessary to interrupt in that point the Ygas bag, in the chamber com-V prised between. said section and the extremythrough without. diminishing the tightness of the envelope.V y

lt is clear that, whatever of these two arrangements may be adopted, for simplicitys sake it will always be kadvisable toextend the compensating air chamber only as as to rea-ch the section fri-X. But this is of nc prejudiceV whatever, on the` contrary it represents an advantage, and, as

Yit is seen in Fig. l, Valso in that form of construction with a free passage through the interior of the' annular Vcage the extension of the air chamber 17 is limited towards the stern portion, that is to'say it reaches Vonly up to the' point at which kstarts the rigidv portion 6 of the girden With said arrangement in practice several advantages are attained:

l. The advantage of diminishing the weight ofthe sternportion.Y p y .2.,The advantage of diminishing Y the stress on the framework of the keel when the airship moves at alow height.

3.V The advantage of permitting .to more easily maintain the longitudinal trim of the airship by turning to profit the circumstance that,Vv by 'and by'as the 'driving material available on boardthe airship is used up and the gas consequently expelled, the centre of Vthrust (centre of the volume ofvgas) is shifted towards the bow portion.

Lastly itis to bev remarked that in some cases the compensating chamber 17 may be done away with' at the extremity of the f bow and thus be confined' merely to the central'portion. Y

vClaims. Y n',

l. ln a semirigid airshipf of the character set forth including' an inflatable bag and a longitudinalbottom girder therein, a cruciform system of wings, each composed of 'xed keel elements and of controllably movable rudder elements, and a rigid subdivided cage structure of substantially the longitudinal extent of said wing system outwardly non-rigidly Vmounted on the stern portion of said inflatable bag.k Y 2; ln an airship accordingtoclaim l, the provision of a cross-stiifening means in at least one of the subdivisions of said wingcarrying cage.

3. ln an airship according to Aclaim 1,*v

the arrangement that the wing-carrying cage extends to the outer extremity ot the Stern portion of 'the inflatable bag.

il. ln an airship according to claim l, the provision in at least one of the cage subdivisions of a croSs-stiiening structure of spider shape including spokes secured at their outer ends to said cage, and means associated with the iniiatabl'e bag for allowing said `spider spokes to pass airtightly through the bag wall.

5. girder and a criioit'orm System of wings according to cla-im l, the annular cage bearing the system oi wings provided in at least one of its sections with a spider stiffening system, the elements of the cage being non-V rigidly fastened to the inliatable bag by means of fabric strips secured with one of their edges to the envelope, and the'ffree edges of said strips being fastened together above the metal element covered by them.

6. ln airships according to claim l a coinln the semirigid airship with a lower pensating air chamber confined towards the stern portion up to the pointat whichstarts the'annular cage of the system of wings.

7; lnan airship according to clairnl,` the arrangement that the wing-supporting cage is limited in longitudinal extent to the length of the rigid wing portions acting as keels. y

8; ln an airship according to claim l, the provision `of a stiffening cross-partition withinr the wingsupporting cage for separating the stern portion of the iniiatable bag back of said partition from the rest of the bag, anda. gas bag within the stern ycham-- ber thus partitioned ofi. Y f

ln 'testimony whereof l affix my signature inthe presence of two witnesses, atk Rome. this twelfth day yot' August 1922.

UMBERTO NOBILE. 1Witnesses A NVToNIo LABooCnT'rA, 1WILHELM SGHMID. 

